This post was created by the Contributor in partnership with BestBlackFriday.com, which specializes in holiday season sales. The deals highlighted within this post were independently selected and do not contain affiliate links.

Every year Black Friday breaks records and Black Friday 2018 will be no exception. The big day is November 23rd, but the deals will begin far in advance with Amazon, Best Buy, Target,
Walmart and others all hoping to grab your attention. Their historical data gives away a lot, so here are my expectations for Walmart…

These deal templates have been huge sellers for Walmart in recent years and there’s no reason for it to move away from these tried and trusted headliners. The exception is Walmart’s headline HDTV deal which I understand will be almost $100 cheaper this year yet still be from a respected brand.

If you have any interest in buying one of these flagship items before Christmas, these are the deals to get. Hold your nerve and don’t jump the gun on anything inferior.

Walmart Black Friday 2018 Tips:

Black Friday Ad Release - As it does every year, Walmart is likely to wait as long as possible to post its 2018 Black Friday ad. Last year, Walmart posted its ad on November 9th at 12 am ET. For 2018, expect the ad at 12 am on Thursday, November 8. Walmart has historically waited until Best Buy and Target post their ads before showing its hand, and it is likely to follow the same strategy again. Expect an ad scan slightly over 30 pages filled with top electronics, including the iPhone XS, iPhone XR, Sony PlayStation 4 Pro, Microsoft Xbox One X and Nintendo Switch.

Sale Days and Times - Historically, Walmart has started its in-store Black Friday sale on Thanksgiving Day at 6 pm. While it could open slightly earlier this year, I expect Walmart will stick to the traditional 6 pm opening time on Thanksgiving Day for in-store sales, but it will likely offer online deals for the duration of Thursday. The in-store sale will run the entire night into Friday, and pre-Black Friday online deals may actually begin as early as Monday on Thanksgiving week.

Free Shipping - While many retailers are likely to offer free shipping on all orders for the duration of the 2018 holiday season, Walmart is unlikely to budge. It currently offers free two-day shipping on most orders of $35 or more. Competitors Target and Best Buy are likely to offer free shipping on all orders with no minimum this holiday season, so you should avoid Walmart for online orders if you are spending less than $35.

Walmart Cyber Monday - While the Black Friday ad will appear in early November, expect Walmart’s Cyber Monday deals to be kept under wrap until the last minute. Walmart has not actually released an official Cyber Monday ad scan in a few years, and it probably will not do so in 2018. That means deals will not be announced until Black Friday or even the Saturday before Cyber Monday. The good news is many of Walmart's Black Friday deals will carry over into Cyber Monday so you will have a second chance if you miss anything on Thanksgiving or Friday.

I will be extensively tracking Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2018 deals and publishing the best offers daily, so be sure to bookmark or hit the Subscribe button on my page.

I am an experienced freelance technology journalist. I have written for Wired, The Next Web, TrustedReviews, The Guardian and the BBC in addition to Forbes. I began in b2b print journalism covering tech companies at the height of the dot com boom and switched to covering con...